For those of you in the Phoenix are, I would like to encourage you to check out the Arizona Ballet (disclosure: my wife is on the board).

I was never a big ballet fan. To be honest, the only times I really ever went in my younger days was when I was dating a girl who loved the ballet and when I was still in that relationship phase that I was bending over backwards to please her.

That being said, the Arizona Ballet is really doing a good job here. In particular, we were dating far above our heads when we lured Ib Andersen as artistic director. My wife wouldn't like me saying this, but we are not going to keep this guy in flyover country forever.

As I have grown to appreciate the ballet, I really like the more modern, story-less dances more than the classic ballets, but that is a matter of taste. But this week the company is putting on Prokofiev's Cinderella, and the music, sets, and dancing are just fantastic. This is not going to be the most daring or interesting dancing the company will do this year, but it is very likely the most accessible to the newcomer. Everyone knows the story, so there are not any wtf? moments I get in some ballets, even ones as overdone as the Nutcracker. And there is real humor in the ballet, in the form of the two stepsisters, that makes this perhaps the most accesible ballet for kids I have ever seen.